Embalmer{3 s headrest

ABSTRACT

A head rest is made up of an outer casting having a headreceiving trough and opposed bosses formed at each end of the trough. A rod having a turning knob at one end has bearing in both said bosses. A sleeve surrounds the rod and is keyed thereto. The sleeve has threads of opposite pitch at each of its ends. A nut is threaded on each end of said sleeve. Each nut is pivoted at each of its ends to a link of a lazy-tongs linkage. A second, inner casting provides support for the foregoing structure and has horizontal guides for the free ends of the links at the opposite end of said lazy-tongs unit.

United States Patent [191 Deaton, deceased et al.

[451 July 31,1973

[ EMBALMERS HEADREST [75] Inventors: Felix W. Deaton, deceased, late of Dallas, Tex.; by Mrs. Felix W. Deaton, spouse, Dallas, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Al Cortez, Sr., Dallas, Tex.

[22] Filed: June 4, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 149,920

[52] U.S. Cl. 27/21, 27/13 [51] Int. Cl A01n 1/00 [58] Field of Search 27/12, 13, 1, 21, 27/25, 28, 27; 297/391, 410; 248/118, 186; 269/322, 328

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 290,682 12/1883 Hedges 27/13 1,917,587 7/1933 Jacobsen... 27/13 2,210,113 8/1940 Davis 27/13 l/l942 Hanson 27/13 2,618,041 11/1952 Nelson 27/13 Primary Examiner-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant ExaminerG. F. Dunne Attorney-Herman, Davidson & Berman [5 7 ABSTRACT A head rest is made up of an outer casting having a head-receiving trough and opposed bosses formed at each end of the trough. A rod having a turning knob at one end has bearing in both said bosses. A sleeve surrounds the rod and is keyed thereto. The sleeve has threads of opposite pitch at each of its ends. A nut is threaded on each end of said sleeve. Each nut is pivoted at each of its ends to a link of a lazy-tongs linkage. A second, inner casting provides support for the foregoing structure and has horizontal guides for the free ends of the links at the opposite end of said lazy-tongs unit.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures EMBALMERS l-IEADREST This invention relates to a head rest for use by morticians in embalming or otherwise preparing a cadaver for burial.

It is an object of this invention to provide a head rest as aforesaid which is simple in construction, assembly and operation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a head rest as aforesaid capable of a wide amplitude of adjustment with the adjustment as fine or as great as the operator may desire in order to accommodate the condition and proportions of .the particular cadaver.

The above and other objects will be made clear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the head rest as a whole;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the head rest of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section on the line 33 of FIG. 1',

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 55 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an outer casing member generally designated 10. This preferably is a unitary metal casting and aluminum is the preferred metal. The casing has formed therein a headreceiving trough 12 with depending side walls 14 and end walls 16 and 18.

The end wall 16 is provided with an integral boss 20, while the opposite wall 18 is provided with a similar integral boss 22. The boss 20 is drilled at 24 to receive a rod 26, the opposite end of which is rotatably received in a recess 28 in the boss 22. The rod 26 is provided with a turning knob 30 adjacent the boss 20.

A sleeve 32 surrounds the shaft 26 and bears at each end against the bosses 20 and 22. The sleeve 32 is secured to the shaft 26 by a set screw 34 which has a head suitable for receiving an allen wrench. The sleeve 32 has threads 36 adjacent the boss 20 and threads 38 adjacent the boss 22. Threads 36 and 38 are of opposite pitch. The threads 36 engage mating threads on a nut 40 while the threads 38 engage similar threads on a nut 42. Except for the pitch of the threads, nuts 40 and 42 are identical and are elongated on each side of the sleeve 32. v

Ribs 44 are formed as an integral part of the outer casing 12 and bear on the upper side of the nut 42 while similar ribs 46 are formed at the opposite end of the outer casing 10 and bear on and guide nut 40. It will be seen from the parts thus far described that turning of the knob 30 in one direction will feed the nuts 40 and 42 along the sleeve 32 toward each other while turning in the opposite direction will drive the nuts 40 and 42 apart from each other.

A pair of links 48 are pivoted at opposite ends ofthe nut 42 by screws 50 while identical links 52 are similarly pivoted to the nut 40. The links 48 and 52 of each side are pivoted together by suitable securing means 54.

The opposite ends of the links 52 are pivoted to a pair of links 56 while the free ends of the links 48 are pivoted to a pair oflinks 58. The links 52 and 58 are joined by pins 60 which are surrounded by spacer sleeves 62, while a similar pin and sleeve arrangement 64, 66 connects the links 48 and 58. The links 56 and 58 on each side are connected by a simple pivot means 68.

It now becomes necessaryto describe the base plate which, in FIGS. 3 and 4, is generally designated 70. The base plate 70 preferably is a single, integral aluminum casting having a central arched section 72 having a central opening 74 which provides access to the set screw 34 when the device is in fully lowered or collapsed position. The arch 72 extends into slightly divergent legs 76 which individually join horizontal rectangular portions 78. At their free ends the portions 78 have lateral extensions 80 into which are inserted the stems of rubber suction cups 82. The cups 82 assist in securing the head rest as a whole to the usual cooling board.

There are, of course, a pair of links 56 and 58 at each side of the casing 10. The free ends of the links 58 are joined by a pin 84 and are spaced by a sleeve 86 freely rotatable on the pin 84 and having rolling bearing or contact with a portion 78 of the base plate 70. A similar pin 88 and sleeve 90 join and space the free ends of the links 56. This permits the free ends of the links 58 to approach the free ends of the links 56 as the casing 12 is raised upwardly by turning the knob 30 to cause the nuts 40 and 42 to approach each other as previously described. I

In order to prevent separation of the outer casing 10 with its associated parts from the base member 70, pins 92 are provided, as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 5. Pins 92 have their ends turned down to provide bearing studs 94 which, as shown in FIG. 5, enter apertures 96 formed adjacent the lower longitudinal edges of the links 56 and 58. When in position, the anchored links 56 and 58 together with their associated parts have rolling contact on the inner surface of the legs 76 and the arch 72. The pins 92 may be installed by fully assembling the linkage which is connected to the uppercasing 10 by the rod 24 and using a jack to spread the links 56 and 58 on each side until the studs 94 may enter the apertures 96. As an alternative, either of the pins 88 or 84 may be left out which will permit spreading of the free ends of the links 56 and 58 sufficiently to permit installation of the pins 92 after which the pins 84 and- /or 88 may be installed to complete the assembly.

While various specific details have been discussed hereinabove, it will be clear that various modifications of detail will suggest themselves to anyone skilled in the art who may peruse this disclosure. It is not intended, therefore, to limit the invention to the precise details described herein.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable headrest for use by morticians, comprising a base plate, an outer casing having formed in its upper side a head-receiving trough, and having, dependent from said upper side, opposed sidewalls and opposed end walls, a shaft extending between a pair of said opposed walls, said shaft having a bearing in both walls and penetrating at least one of them for application of external turning force, thread means of opposite pitch at each end of said shaft, a pair of nuts each having threaded engagement with said thread means at one end of said shaft, a pair of links pivoted to opposite ends of each nut, the links of the two nuts crossing each other and being pivoted at their intersections to form at least part of a lazy-tong linkage, the links at the opposite end of said linkage having free ends, the free ends of a pair oflinks at each side of said opposite end of said linkage being secured against separation by a pivot pin and being separated by a roller sleeve surrounding said pin, said sleeves having rolling contact with the upper side of said base plate, and means connected to the links of said linkage engaging said base plate for preventing separation of said base plate from said linkage.

2. The device of claim 1, in which said base plate comprises a strip of metal having horizontal end portions and an upwardly arched central portion.

3. The device of claim 2, in which said links of said opposite end of said linkage carry rollers for engagement with the underside of the arched portion of said base plate.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein a sleeve surrounds said shaft and is secured thereto for rotation therewith,

said sleeve having said thread means of opposite pitch formed therein.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said upper side of the outer casing and said head-receiving trough therein are formed as a continuous surface there being a plurality of vertical ribs joining the under surface of said side and the inner surfaces of said pair of opposed walls, the under edges of said ribs lying in a horizontal plane, said pair of nuts each being elongated in a direction transversely of said shaft and each having its upper surface bearing against the under edges of said ribs for sliding guided movement upon rotation of said shaft. 

1. An adjustable headrest for use by morticians, comprising a base plate, an outer casing having formed in its upper side a head-receiving trough, and having, dependent from said upper side, opposed sidewalls and opposed end walls, a shaft extending between a pair of said opposed walls, said shaft having a bearing in both walls and penetrating at least one of them for application of external turning force, thread means of opposite pitch at each end of said shaft, a pair of nuts each having threaded engagement with said thread means at one end of said shaft, a pair of links pivoted to opposite ends of each nut, the links of the two nuts crossing each other and being pivoted at their intersections to form at least part of a lazy-tong linkage, the links at the opposite end of said linkage having free ends, the free ends of a pair of links at each side of said opposite end of said linkage being secured against separation by a pivot pin and being separated by a roller sleeve surrounding said pin, said sleeves having rolling contact with the upper side of said base plate, and means connected to the links of said linkage engaging said base plate for preventing separation of said base plate from said linkage.
 2. The device of claim 1, in which said base plate comprises a strip of metal having horizontal end portions and an upwardly arched central portion.
 3. The device of claim 2, in which said links of said opposite end of said linkage carry rollers for engagement with the underside of the arched portion of said base plate.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein a sleeve surrounds said shaft and is secured thereto for rotation therewith, said sleeve having said thread means of opposite pitch formed therein.
 5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said upper side of the outer casing and said head-receiving trough therein are formed as a continuous surface there being a plurality of vertical ribs joining the under surface of said side and the inner surfaces of said pair of opposed walls, the under edges of said ribs lying in a horizontal plane, said pair of nuts each being elongated in a direction transversely of said shaft and each having its upper surface bearing against the under edges of said ribs for sliding guided movement upon rotation of said shaft. 